Unheard Voices

n November 2020, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in Myanmar's general election. However, the military, which had already controlled all the power in the government before the coup, staged a coup on February 1, 2021, in an extreme move to maintain their power. The military knew that the vast majority of the people supported Aung San Suu Kyi, so to maintain their power, they continue to use force to threaten the people and demand their support. As a result, the citizens of Myanmar have formed a civil army to confront the military, and the number of civilian casualties in the past two years is difficult to estimate. When the first Myanmar coup occurred, the world's media competed to report on the situation in Myanmar, and the world became interested in the peace of Myanmar. However, due to wars and important events around the world since then, global attention to the situation of civilians being massacred in Myanmar has dwindled. As visa issuance resumed in the second half of 2022 after the civil war, I visited Myanmar to capture the local situation, and met with families of war victims to learn about their situation. The war victims had their families and livelihoods taken away without any preparation, and most of them were hiding to avoid the military's watchful eyes. I met with several families who had the courage to speak out, and these photos are their stories.